1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rapid cooling apparatus for rapidly cooling objects at room temperature via conductive heat transfer and convective heat transfer as well.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, refrigerators are essential electric equipments for keeping fruits or vegetables in the fresh state and for freezing or refrigerating meats and fishes which readily rot. Such refrigerators are useful means for not only home but also the industry.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a general refrigerator. Referring to FIG. 1, the refrigerator is typically divided into a freezing chamber 1 and a refrigerating chamber 2. A user would store or take out foods into/out of the freezing and refrigerating chambers 1 and 2.
In general, drinkables are stored in the refrigerating chamber 2 or in particular in storage rooms 3 for drinkables furnished in a door of the refrigerating chamber 2. When the drinkables are stored in the refrigerating chamber or in the refrigerating chamber door, it takes a long time until the drinkables are cooled down to a low temperature from a room temperature. Of course, the cooling time is shortened when the drinkables are stored in the freezing chamber in order to shorten the cooling time. However, it also takes about 20 minutes until the drinkables reach the low temperature state even though the cooling time is shortened. That is to say, the freezing chamber can shorten the cooling time required for cooling the drinkables compared to the refrigerating chamber since it has a temperature of about xe2x88x9218xc2x0 C.
Even though it is consumed for about 20 minutes that the user stores the drinkables into the freezing chamber for cooling the same which is shorter than the storage time in the refrigerating chamber, busy modem people cannot readily wait for 20 minutes in order to drink the drinkables in low temperature since they take serious considerations to 1 minute and even to 1 second.
Therefore it is needed to develop an apparatus capable of cooling drinkables from a room temperature to a low temperature more rapidly.
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional method for rapidly cooling drinkables. Referring to FIG. 2, a cover cloth 6 is spread on a surface, ice lumps 4 are disposed around drinkable vessels 7 (hereinafter will be referred to be xe2x80x98objects to be cooledxe2x80x99 or simply xe2x80x98objectsxe2x80x99 for the convenience""s sake of description), salt 5 is scattered on the ice lumps 4, and then the cover cloth 6 is wrapped around the objects 7 to be cooled. Then heat transfer starts from the objects 7 to be cooled in a room temperature to the ice lumps 4 in a low temperature since the objects 7 to be cooled contact with the ice lumps 4. In this case, the cover cloth 6 is adapted to block external heat from migrating into the ice lumps or external air from penetrating within the cover cloth 6.
The objects 7 to be cooled would be continuously rotated in order to transfer heat more effectively from the objects 7 to be cooled to the ice lumps 6.
According to this method, however, ice and salt readily dissolve and thus it is required to replace ice and salt frequently. Furthermore, this method disadvantageously accompanies with difficulties in use, for example, water created owing to dissolution of ice makes the surface messy.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problems and it is an object of the present invention to provide a rapid cooling apparatus for cooling objects to be cooled at a room temperature to a low temperature in a very short time period.
It is another object of the invention to provide a rapid cooling system and method for rapidly cooling objects to be cooled with a smaller amount of electric energy.
According to an aspect of the invention to obtain the above objects, it is provided a rapid cooling apparatus for rapidly cooling objects to be cooled, comprising: means having a storage space disposed inside a first storage housing for storing the objects to be cooled and cold material bags disposed around the received objects to be cooled; means for driving the storage means in a direction; and means for spacing the storage and driving means from a second storage housing.
In the rapid cooling apparatus, the cold material bags are filled with cold material and attached to inside walls, the cold material may comprise ethyl alcohol or saline. The cold material is desirable to maintain two-phase state at the regular temperature range.
The rapid cooling apparatus may further comprise an evaporator inserted into the first storage housing, wherein the evaporator may operate in cooperation with a cooling cycle. The rapid cooling apparatus may further comprise heat-insulating material disposed outside the second storage housing.
Where the driving means comprise vibration means for vibrating the storage means, the vibration means may be fixed to the storage means via a connector shaft, wherein the vibration means may include: a vibration motor fixed inside a vibration housing; and an eccentric weight rotating as coupled to a shaft of the vibration motor.
Where the driving means comprise rotation means for rotating the storage means, the rotation means may include: a rotation motor for generating rotation force; a first rotation shaft for coupling the rotation motor with one side of the storage means to transfer rotation force; and a second rotation shaft for coupling between the other side of the storage means and a rotation shaft support to support the storage means, wherein the second rotation shaft may be inserted into bearings of the rotation shaft support. The rotation motor continuously rotates in one of forward and reverse directions, and the rapid cooling apparatus may further comprise a clutch for switching rotation executed in one direction by the rotation motor, whereby the rotation inverts its direction.
Where the rotation motor is a DC motor which rotates alternately in forward and reverse directions, the DC motor may rotate alternately in forward and reverse directions under the control of means for controlling rotation.
The rapid cooling apparatus may further comprise resonance means for controlling so that an excitation frequency corresponds to a resonant frequency.
According to an aspect of the invention to obtain the above objects, it is provided a rapid cooling system for rapidly cooling objects to be cooled, comprising: means having a storage space disposed inside a first storage housing for storing the objects to be cooled and cold material bags disposed around the received objects to be cooled; means for laterally vibrating the storage means; resonance means for controlling so that an excitation frequency detected from the storage means corresponds to resonance frequency, and means for spacing the storage and vibration means from a second storage housing.
According to further another aspect of the invention to obtain the above objects, it is provided a rapid cooling system for rapidly cooling objects to be cooled, comprising: means having a storage space disposed inside a first storage housing for storing the objects to be cooled and cold material bags disposed around the received objects to be cooled; means for rotating the storage means in a reciprocating direction; and rotation control means for controlling the rotation means to rotate in the reciprocating direction.
According to other aspect of the invention to obtain the above objects, it is provided a rapid cooling apparatus for rapidly cooling objects to be cooled, comprising: means having a storage space disposed inside a first storage housing for storing the objects to be cooled, cold material bags disposed around the received objects to be cooled and an evaporator inserted into the first storage housing; means for driving the storage means in a direction; and means for spacing the storage and driving means from a second storage housing.
According to another aspect of the invention to obtain the above objects, it is provided a rapid cooling apparatus for rapidly cooling objects to be cooled, comprising: means having a storage space disposed inside a first storage housing for storing the objects to be cooled and cold material bags disposed around the received objects to be cooled; means for laterally vibrating the storage means; and means for spacing the storage and vibration means from a second storage housing.
According to a further another aspect of the invention to obtain the above objects, it is provided a rapid cooling apparatus for rapidly cooling objects to be cooled, comprising: means having a storage space disposed inside a first storage housing for storing the objects to be cooled and cold material bags disposed around the received objects to be cooled; means for rotating the storage means and having a first rotation shaft and a second rotation shaft, the first rotation shaft being extended from one side of the storage means to a rotation motor, and the second rotation shaft extended from the other side of the storage means and inserted into a rotation shaft support; and means for spacing the storage and vibration means from a second storage housing.
According to another aspect of the invention to obtain the above objects, it is provided a rapid cooling system for rapidly cooling objects to be cooled, comprising: means having a storage space disposed inside a first storage housing for storing the objects to be cooled and cold material bags disposed around the received objects to be cooled; means for laterally rotating the storage means; resonance control means for calculating an excitation frequency based upon variation in voltage detected from vibration of the storage means, and controlling the rate of the vibration means so that the excitation frequency corresponds to the resonant frequency, and means for spacing the storage and vibration means from a second storage housing.
According to a still another aspect of the invention to obtain the above objects, it is provided a method for rapidly cooling objects to be cooled in a refrigerator, the method comprising the steps of: detecting, by detection means, vibration generated from storage means to output a voltage signal; calculating, by resonance control means, an excitation frequency based upon variation of the voltage signal to output a control signal if the excitation frequency corresponds to a resonant frequency of the storage means; changing the rate of rotation according to the control signal; and generating, by the storage means, vibration according to the changed rotation rate.